The journey across the sea dragged on much longer than Yuehwa had expected, even though it lasted the exact same number of days as it had taken them to get from Jin to Dahai in the first place. Ember claimed it was because Shoya wasn't around to bicker with her (or actually it was just her bickering with him and him remaining stoically silent), but she reckoned it was because she had to spend most of her time holed up in the cabins so she wouldn't risk bumping into people she didn't want to see.

After their encounter with Maroo and the message that Ember had brought back from the prince's cabin, Yuehwa spent most of her time pondering over the politicking that was taking place beneath the seemingly calm facade of the five kingdoms.

Back in the palace, when Naying had told her that the king intended for his prospective son-in-law to either be the prince of Feng or Gi, she had already expected that the king had bigger plans in store than to find his daughter a good man; what she hadn't expected was for the old man to be ambitious enough to have set his sights on all of the lands of the five kingdoms. That would mean starting a war, one that would upset the uneasy peace that had been kept for over a century.

As unbelievable as it might seem, Yuehwa considered herself a pacifist.

She didn't like the thought of wars and bloodshed, even though she had slit many a throat herself. It was different, or so she claimed, because the people she assassinated all deserved their sorry ends. They were either greedy bastards who siphoned gold off anyone they could get their hands on or they were power hungry imbeciles who would have stirred up unnecessary unrest within the royal courts and made the innocent commoners suffer as a result.

You have a bloody hero mentality, Ember had once concluded. She didn't deny it.

"Do you think I should do something?" she murmured to Ember as she balanced lengthwise on the wooden beam. She had taken to doing that over the past few days, hoping that she would be inspired to come up with an answer. "Do away with the king of Dahai maybe?"

Are you crazy? The bird tossed her a judgmental glare. If you assassinate the king of Dahai, then what about her?

Yuehwa traced the direction of Ember's gaze downwards and the both of them looked down at the princess who was fast asleep in her bed. As Yuehwa refused to squeeze in the servants' cabins with the other palace maids, Naying had agreed to let her share the room. In fact, her exact words were, "I'd feel safer if you were around."

A twinge of guilt immediately struck Yuehwa and she swiped the thought of assassinating Naying's father out of her mind.

"You're right, I'm out of my mind. Assassinating a government official is one thing, murdering a king is a whole different matter. If I did that then I could start a war and then I'd be no different from the wily old man."

Sighing, she leapt off the beam and landed lightly on the wooden floorboards, tiptoeing towards the door. It was almost dawn and she couldn't get to sleep anyway, so she figured it was a good time for a breath of fresh air. Walking down the quiet corridors and up the stairs, she emerged on the main deck, taking a deep breath to take in the scent of the sea.

Stretching out her arms, she said, "That feels so much better! Being cooped up indoors all day is unbearable!"

There was no one else on the main deck at this time of the morning, so it was the perfect opportunity for her to walk about. The sun was rising in the horizon, but there was still barely a sliver of light that could be seen. Strolling over to the bow of the ship, Yuehwa squinted to make out what lay ahead.

"I think that's land up ahead," she remarked. "We'll arrive in Jin by the time the sun has risen."

"I reckon you're just about right," a voice replied her.

Startled by the sudden intrusion, Yuehwa jumped ever so slightly, before she instinctively spun around and reached for the dagger that was hidden in her sleeve. She would have slit the unfortunate man's throat within a second, but thankfully for him there was enough light for her to recognise who it was. She immediately retracted her dagger before he noticed.

Scowling, she said, "What are you doing out here at this time? It's way too early for anyone to be up and about."

Baixun smiled, almost unable to hide his elation at finding her here. "I should be the one asking that question. What are you doing here? Did you change your mind after all?"

"Change my mind about wha—" The sudden memory of what Baixun had said to her the last time they met immediately popped into mind. Her scowl deepened. "No. Just to make things clear, I'm not here because of you. I'm here because a friend of mine asked me to, and that friend happens to be your future crown princess."

"That's alright. It doesn't matter what your reasons are, as long as you are here," Baixun replied. "I'm impressed that you've managed to stay hidden for such a long period of time, given that we're on board a ship and there are only so many places one can go."

Tell me about it, Yuehwa thought to herself in annoyance. If not because I needed to avoid you, I wouldn't have had to restrict myself to the princess's cabin and the kitchen. "Your Highness, if you'll excuse me," she said.

Baixun immediately reached up and grabbed her by the hand. "Yuehwa, please," he said. "I don't want you to keep avoiding me. If you feel awkward because of what I said to you that night, then by all means just forget everything that I said and pretend it never happened. You don't need to hide from me because of it and you're free to go wherever you wish, no one on this ship will stop you."

"No one on this ship can stop me," Yuehwa muttered under her breath. The only reason why I'm playing hide-and-seek is because I don't want Naying to find out about all of this and get her heart broken. Clearing her throat, she looked him straight in the eyes and said, "Your Highness, I don't remember anything that you said to me, so there's nothing to worry about. Neither am I hiding from you. We barely know each other, so I don't think there's a need for us to even be having this conversation."

"Help me get to know you then," Baixun pressed on, looking at her earnestly.

It was taking a great deal of self-restraint for Yuehwa not to knee him in the groin. She flung his hand away and jabbed him hard in the chest, saying, "Prince Baixun, let me make one thing clear to you. I think it's best that you pretend that you don't know me, because if the princess so much as gets a whiff of something amiss, I'll see to it that Gi gets a new crown prince. If you don't believe me, then maybe next time you should ask your adviser whether or not I'm capable of doing something like that."

"Maroo?" Baixun tilted his head and looked at her quizzically.

"Never mind," Yuehwa muttered, turning around and storming off in a huff. She had wanted to come outside for a pleasant morning stroll, but now her good mood had been entirely destroyed. She could only hope that the prince had enough common sense to not behave like a scoundrel when Naying was around.

#

In order to reach the capital of Gi, the entourage would have to need to travel northwards across the kingdom of Jin, a journey that would take them at least a week and a half on horse carriage. Once the princess was safe within the confines of the Gi palace, Yuehwa's job would be done and she could continue on her way to Feng, leaving Baixun and his nonsense behind once and for all. She wondered if Baixun had found out her true identity from Maroo, but if he had then he showed no sign of it. In fact, surprisingly, he had left her alone for the past few days.

Sitting beside the princess in her carriage, Yuehwa was busy peeling lychees and popping them in her mouth as quickly as she could. They were possibly the sweetest lychees she had ever tasted in her life.

"These are really good, are you sure you don't want any?" she asked Naying, drops of lychee juice spilling out of her mouth as she spoke.

Naying smiled and shook her head gracefully, saying, "No thanks. I haven't had much of an appetite recently. I'm not sure if it's because I'm too tired from all the travelling."

Yuehwa studied the princess carefully from head to toe, noting that she did look a little pale and worn. Unlike her, the princess had been kept within palace walls her entire life, this being the first time she had ever stepped foot out of the kingdom of Dahai; it was no wonder she was exhausted from the travelling.

"This is why girls like us shouldn't stay indoors all the time. When you reach the palace of Gi, remember to go outdoors often and take walks, or even play ball with some of your palace maids! A little bit of sunshine will do wonders for your constitution."

"I wish I had half your energy," Naying said with a smile. "It isn't proper for a lady to be out and about too often. Taking walks in the gardens is alright, but playing ball... That would be highly inappropriate—only the men should be doing things like that."

Yuehwa rolled her eyes. "Don't give me a lecture on what ladies should or should not do, I've heard enough of those and that never stopped me," she said.

She lifted the curtain and peered out of the carriage window. They had already been on the road for a full day and the sun was about to set, yet the entourage was still pressing onwards so that they would be able to reach the next town by nightfall. At the head of the entourage, Baixun's silhouette sat tall as he rode upon his ebony steed, the coarse threads he was wearing doing nothing to hide his air of nobility.

Naying was looking out of the window on her side of the carriage, and seeing that starry look in the princess's eyes, Yuehwa immediately guessed what she was looking at. Spitting out a lychee seed, she remarked, "You have your entire life to look at him, no need to stare so hard. I thought you were just telling me what ladies should or should not do? I'm quite certain ogling at men is definitely one of those things that fall into the 'should not' category."

Naying blushed a bright shade of pink and immediately lowered the curtain. "I wasn't ogling!" she retorted. Sighing, she turned to Yuehwa and said, "The prince has been very gracious towards me so far. He's always exceedingly polite and charming during meals and he even sends his men to check on my well-being from time to time, but still..."

"Still what?"

"I don't know, I just feel as though something is missing but I don't quite know what it is. Is this how our relationship is going to be? Maybe I'm just being too sensitive. After all I've seen enough of how my father interacts with his concubines to know how these royal marriages should work."

Yuehwa fell silent for a while, pondering on what the princess had just said. What's missing in this relationship, and the relationships of many royal couples, is love. She didn't know if Naying truly loved Baixun, or if it was just an infatuation at this stage, but she knew for sure that Baixun didn't reciprocate it despite his smiles and charms, and she despised him for it. She despised him for having agreed to marry a girl that he had no feelings for whatsoever, treating her like a pawn in this game of thrones, and all the other kings and princes who had done the same.

"Don't worry," she finally said. "The both of you just need more time to get to know each other better."

Just then, the horse carriage came to a halt. One of the princess's palace maids lifted the curtain and took a look outside. "Your Highness, we've arrived at the inn," she said. Holding out her hand, she carefully helped the princess to alight from the carriage, with Yuehwa hopping off behind them.

After having traded in her usual robes for one of the servants' outfits, Yuehwa blended in well with the rest of the crowd, looking like just another of Naying's attendants. Given Baixun's request to travel light so that they would not attract any unnecessary attention, Naying was only accompanied by three palace maids, including Yuehwa. Baixun himself was only travelling with five others.

When she saw Baixun walking towards them, Yuehwa immediately took two steps back and lowered her head, praying that the man wouldn't say or do anything out of order.

"Your Highness, I'm sorry that journey took much longer than I had originally hoped. You must be exhausted," Baixun said to Naying, not even looking in Yuehwa's direction. "We'll be resting in this inn tonight. My men have already checked the entire place, so there's nothing to worry about."

"Thank you," Naying replied with a timid smile. "You don't have to worry about me, I'm alright."

"Are these your attendants? I don't think I've met them before," Baixun turned to look at the three girls who were standing behind Naying, of which two blushed and one scowled. "Ladies, you have my thanks for taking such good care of the princess on this journey. It'll still be many days before we reach Gi, so I'll have to trouble you with the important duty of keeping the princess well looked after until then. What are your names?"

Yuehwa clenched her fists and glared at the man, wondering what possessed him to play such games. Was it so difficult to just ignore her and pretend that they were strangers? Princes weren't supposed to go around talking to the servants and asking them for their names! As the other two girls obediently reported their names, Baixun kept his eyes on Yuehwa, that warm smile never leaving his face as he did so. When it was her turn, she continued to glare with a vengeance, not realising that everyone else had now turned their attentions towards her.

"Yuehwa," the princess whispered worriedly, tugging at her sleeve. "Say something."

"My name is... Yuehwa, Your Highness," she finally said, her eyes willing him not to do or say anything that could arouse Naying's suspicions.

"Yuehwa, that's a pretty name," Baixun remarked, seemingly unperturbed by the daggers shooting out of her eyes. "Well it's very nice to meet all of you. If ever the princess needs anything, feel free to just alert one of my men and they will see to it immediately." Looking around, he caught sight of a tall figure lurking near the back of the carriage ordering the innkeeper's servants to carry their belongings up to the rooms. "Ah, Maroo," he called out. "Will you come over here for a second please?"

Hearing Maroo's name, Yuehwa's eyes glinted mischievously. What better way to lift her mood than to terrorise the hell out of everyone's favourite scaredy-cat? She swivelled around and turned towards his direction, a sly smile spreading across her face the minute she caught his eye. Just as she expected, Maroo's face immediately went ghastly pale when he saw her and he froze on the spot. Before Baixun had the chance to call out to him again, the tall chap had collapsed onto the ground in a crumpled heap having fainted from fright.

Yuehwa stifled a laugh, turning back around and plastering her best enactment of shock on her face. To be honest, she was impressed with Maroo's top notch acting skills—anyone else who was less discerning would have genuinely believed that he had passed out. It was quite clever really, playing dead so that he wouldn't need to end up like that pumpkin in the kitchen that she had thrown a knife into.

"Whatever happened to him! Do you think he's alright?" Princess Naying asked.

"He'll be fine," Yuehwa replied dismissively. "Come on, we should head up to the rooms. If you're not feeling so well then you should probably have a lie down."

The innkeeper had arranged for some of the best rooms for them and promised to bring up some piping hot dishes in a short while. Pleased with what she heard, Yuehwa followed the innkeeper up the stairs towards the left wing, until they reached their designated room. Pushing open the door, the first thing she saw when she stepped in was a small vase with a bunch of yellow dahlias sitting on the middle of the table.

"Where did this come from?" she asked.

"We received a letter from your party earlier this morning informing us of your arrival and instructing for us to put some fresh dahlias in every room," the innkeeper replied truthfully. "Is it not to your liking?"

Naying, who had entered the room together with her, took one look at the dahlias and immediately turned towards Yuehwa, looking a little worried. Once Yuehwa had dismissed the innkeeper, the princess burst out, "Do you think the prince knows who you really are? The dahlias..."

"If he knew who I was then I wouldn't still be standing here," Yuehwa lied. "You heard him just now, he didn't recognise me at all. He even asked me for my name. He probably thought you would like having some cheery flowers in the room so he had these prepared. It's a coincidence, that's all." She was hoping that the guilt wouldn't show on her face, but just to be safe she turned away from Naying all the same.

Pushing open the windows, she gazed down at the street below. Maroo had somewhat come to his senses now, and was being helped into the inn by some of the other guards. As for Baixun, he was still standing near the entrance where they had left him, looking straight up at her with a twinkle in his eye.

Baixun, so you think you're clever just because you've figured out who I really am?

If he wanted to play this game, then she would be more than willing to play along—and show him what it felt like to play a game that he could never, ever, win.